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Winterterm@MIIS = Adventures and Professional Development

February 1, 2013

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For many Monterey Institute students, the short winter term in January is a great opportunity to gain real-world experience and a deeper understanding of a particular subject, and/or to enhance their language skills. The courses and immersive learning opportunities offered for the 2013 winter (or "J-term”) were a wonderful reflection of the vibrant academic environment created by the unique Monterey Institute community.

Among the 2013 offerings was the ever popular “Chile Practicum: Transitional Injustice and Chile’s Vulnerable Populations” led by Professor Jan Black with Judge Juan Guzman, best known as the prosecutor of Chile’s General Pinochet. In another course, Professor Pushpa Iyer led a group of students through an exploration of the cultural, social and political history of her home state of Gujarat, India.

Students could also choose to participate in real-life development projects as part of the well-established Team Peru, founded and run by MIIS alumni Aaron Ebner (MPA ’11) and Adam Stieglitz (MPA ’11). Team El Salvador offered Hanna Muegge (MAIEP ’14) “a new adventure every day.” She recommends the experience for all MIIS students and says she was “positively surprised by the Salvadoran kindness, natural beauty, and emotional history.”

A new offering this year is the Ocean Leadership Practicum led by Professor Jeffrey Langholz for M.A.R.I.N.E., a collaboration of seven Monterey Bay academic campuses. As Professor Langholz describes the groundbreaking course, “Twenty students, seven schools, 11 trainers, and 14 skills that ocean champions said were most critical to their success. This sets a whole new standard for marine education.” In a clear statement of support for the quality of education offered in the practicum, Stanford has committed to fund and implement “big ideas” that students developed during the course.